Australia Adventure: West Coast Story Pt 2

And so we swam with whale sharks.  It was an amazing experience and capped our time in Coral Bay.  We continued north to Exmouth where the van was to be fixed.  The viscous fan hub had arrived and the part was replaced.  The van was back in action!  With this new part, we found that we could drive upward of 100km/h comfortably.  And then we found the overdrive button.  This button acts as a fifth gear for automatic vehicles, reducing the RPM and increasing its fuel efficiency. And we discovered it almost two weeks into our trip!  With overdrive, we could now speed along at 120km/h, almost reaching the highway speed limit of 130km/h. And speed we did, beginning the day with the song that had become the theme song of our road trip: Call Your Girlfriend (Kaskade edit) by Robyn.

Turquoise Bay!

Vivianne &Alex!

We left Exmouth and continued along the peninsula to Cape Range national park.  This park is home to the famous Turquoise Bay and we wasted no time getting to the beach and snorkelling in the waters there.   It was here that we saw Alex and Vivianne (the couple from Cervantes) again.  And then when we returned to our camping spot, our neighbour turned out to be hippie Shayne!





We stayed a few days at Cape Range, basking in the sun and exploring for cool shells.  One morning while we were making pancakes, Shayne came over to join us.  I learned that he was part aboriginal and we talked about his people and the issues aboriginals face in Australia.  It was a very interesting discussion that lasted a few hours.

We left Cape Range on a cloudy day and made our way inland a bit to Karijini National Park.  This is one of the most famous parks in Australia, being the object of internet fame.  A quick Google image search will suffice for understanding why. We arrived at the park at 4pm and decided to chill at the camp grounds.  The girls decided Hus needed a haircut and set about chopping away at his jet black hair.  He was pleased with the result, and I was pleased with how squeamish he was during the whole process!

Help Me!

We woke to rain the next day.  We stared out the window of our van as we slowly drove to the visitor centre to check the weather forecast.  Rain, rain, and more rain.  Luckily, the probability was much lower for the next day so we decided to chill at the camp ground. On the way out we ran into Alex and Vivianne again!  They were leaving Karijini but we agreed to meet up in Broome for Alex’s birthday.

Back at the van I finished my book, ‘How to Live Safely in a Science Fictional Universe’ by Charles Yu.  It was a good read, but it felt unfinished. Like the end chapters had been left lying on the cutting room floor.    After finishing the book, I began to feel restless.  I couldn’t sit in the van all day, and then sleep in it all night.  So I decided to wander off on an adventure.

Fortescue Falls!

We were a short walk from Dales gorge so I set off by myself, rain jacket on, and camera in hand.  I began at Fortescue Falls, looking down at the water cascading across and down the layers of banded iron that constituted the geology of the area.  I walked past it and over to the Fern Pool, a heritage site that featured a small waterfall and a large pool.  The rain was still pouring down and I was quite wet, but I decided to keep on going.  I walked along the edge of the gorge in a large circuit that took me back to the camping site.  The sky was cloudy but the views were fantastic.

I returned to the van and my travel mates.  I was damp, that’s for sure, but I was happy that I ventured out.

Weano Gorge!

The next day we drove to Weano Gorge.  The sky was still full of clouds waiting to drop their hoarded water on us at any time, but we persisted.  We walk down into the gorge and walk through the forested crevasse.  We were surrounded by walls of banded iron, its horizontally striped appearance creating an illusion of infinity.  Our group made it to a pool of water that seemed to be blocking our path.  On a warmer day we could have swam though it and ventured on.  Today, however, was not a warm day.  Looking at the path ahead, I was determined to make it across.  I scanned the walls of the gorge and my eyes settled on a no climbing sign.  I looked up again and saw another such sign a few metres away, and another one a little further.  It was if they formed a path for me to climb and I accepted the challenge.  It was not a difficult thing to do, as banded iron makes for a great rockwall.  It took a few jumps and a swing or two, but I made it past the pool and kept on moving.  I kept close to the wall and climbed around to the very end where I saw the handrail pool, aptly named due to the handrail that assists visitors down to the pool.  I marvelled at the beauty of the gorge, exhilarated by my journey.  I was completely alone until two girls dressed only in their underwear ventured to the pool.  They had decided to brave the cold water and make their way to the end. Respect.

Hancock!

I returned to Hus and the others and we continued onwards to Hancock gorge. We encountered a similar scenario with another pool of water, but this time Anne climbed along the walls with me.  We made it to a beautiful rock slide/waterfall and enjoyed the success of our venture.  We both heard a sound behind us and turned to see Hus wading through the water, dressed only in his boxer-briefs.  He was shivering from the cold but his excitement came though his smile and his yells.

The next morning was sunny and we decided to explore Dales Gorge.  We began with a walk through the gorge, ending at Fortescue Falls where I had been two days before.  We made it to Fern Pool and I climbed on top of the water fall, keeping my body close to the rocks as it was a nasty drop if I fell.  I considered jumping from the falls but the rocks below dissuaded me from this.

Fern Pool!

And that ended our time at Karijini.  It was an amazing national park and a highlight of my trip.  Exploring the gorges was like my geological job to me.  It had all the fun attributes of my work without any of the responsibility.  Awesome!

Our next stop would be Port Hedland, a mining town, where we would refuel and resupply.  We spent the night at a rest spot halfway to the town.  These rest spots are mostly used for truck drivers to take a break from driving for a few hours before going back on the road.  We were ok to camp there and settled down for the night.  I knew that we would be hearing a lot of traffic, so I popped in some ear plugs and went to sleep.  The next morning Hus and I were treated to quite the story from the girls.  It turned out that there had been an accident further down the road and the police were rerouting all the trucks through the tiny stretch of a rest stop that we were in.  The girls counted at least one hundred trucks passing through, and Hus and I didn’t hear any of them!

Cable Beach!

After stopping in Port Hedland and driving for many hours past it, we made it to Broome!  And in the visitor centre we bumped into Alex and Vivianne!  We agree to meet up that night to celebrate Alex’s birthday.  After getting some information from the centre, we stop at McDonalds!  It was the first time I had been to the Golden Arches since departing Perth and I was hungry!  A double-quarter pounder meal, 6 nuggets and an ice cream cone later I was satisfied.  We settled into our camping ground and tried to figure out what to do next.  The humidity decided that for us.  It zapped our energy and we ended up swimming in the park pool and chilling by the van.  Later that night, Alex and Vivianne dropped by and we partied at the nightclub Oasis.  A good night was had!

Unfortunately the cloudy weather we had left in Karijini had found us again and we were swamped by rain.  It seemed the wet season had returned with a vengeance. Much like our first day in Karijini, I got bored sitting around and went on a walk down Broome’s Cable beach.  It was raining slightly but I felt like I could survive in my rain jacket and swim trunks.  I got about a third down the beach before the lashing wind and torrential rainfall made me turn around.  It had become a storm and I wasn’t about to be caught up in the middle of it.  I made it back to camp completely drenched but with a smile on my face.  This was fun!

Camels!

Stunning!

The next day changed the course of my road trip.  We were three weeks into our month-long journey and we were just in Broome.  We had wanted to make it to Darwin and down to Alice Springs before returning to Perth.  But this would take weeks!  And Hus didn’t have this time as he needed to work.  He was considering going back to Perth or looking for work in Broome.  Either way, it seemed like our road trip together was at an end.  I thought of all my options and placed an ad on Gumtree (the equivalent of Kijiji back in Canada) for a ride up to Darwin.  I had never used Gumtree for the purpose of finding travel partners, but I had heard good things and decided to give it a go.  While I waited, I decided to take a drive with Hus to look for work with him.  As we exited the parking lot, I could feel that the van was sluggish.  As we turned onto the highway, the van stalled causing us to pull over to the side.  It wouldn’t start and we were unsure why.  I ran back to the camp and got the girls to drive to us in order to jumpstart the van.  It worked, for a short while.  The van stalled again but we managed to steer it into the parking lot.  We called a mechanic and waited for his arrival.  He was going to be a few hours so I took a walk to the beach.  It was sunny today so I wanted to enjoy the sun while I could.  It was then that I happened upon a caravan of camels!  They were being led down to the beach for the afternoon walk and enjoyed watching the procession.

While walking back to camp, I saw Hus driving along in the van with another man.  I could only assume that he was the mechanic and that the van was fixed!  It turned out that an electrical wire had been frayed and just needed some electrical tape wound around it.  That night, I ventured down to the beach for the sunset.  Spectacular.  Absolutely spectacular.  Broome had definitely delivered.

Jerry the Jellyfish!

The next day I decided to walk the span of Cable Beach down to southern point.  I strode past countless shells, stranded jellyfish, shy starfish and scores of snails.  I made it to the point and checked out the moulds of dinosaur footprints (the real ones are only visible at very low tide) and the blowholes around the sandstone cliffs.  On my journey back to the camp, I received a reply to my Gumtree ad from two girls.  They were renting a car and driving to Darwin.  I was intrigued and agreed to meet them later that night.  As I made it back to my camp, I looked at the time.  I had been walking for six and a half hours.  No wonder my legs hurt!

I met with the girls, Camila from Italy and Mela from Austria, and they detailed their plan to me. We were to make it to Darwin in five days time, stopping at one of the national parks near the city.  This sounded like a great plan to me.  It was a long drive to Darwin but there was a severe lack of places to visit and things to do in between so five days seemed like a good timetable.  They were picking up the car in the morning and we would meet at the local Woolworths grocery store.

I returned to the camping ground and broke the news to Hus and the girls.  I think we all realized our time together was at an end.  Hus had accepted a job in Broome and the girls were actively searching for work.  I had no interest in working yet, and wanted my road trip to continue.

I went to sleep that night not knowing what adventures the morning would bring.  All I knew was that I was on my way to Darwin!


Check out Australia Adventure: Phase I!
                 Australia Adventure: Phase II!
                 Australia Adventure: Phase III!
                 Australia Adventure: West Coast Story Pt 1


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